BJP manipulating co-op polls: Cong

CONGRESS MLA and former cooperatives minister Dr Govind Singh on Saturday accused the BJP Government of resorting to all sorts of manipulations and election malpractices ahead of cooperative elections in the State and demanded that the election should be conducted under the supervision of State Election Commission.

CONGRESS MLA and former cooperatives minister Dr Govind Singh on Saturday accused the BJP Government of resorting to all sorts of manipulations and election malpractices ahead of cooperative elections in the State and demanded that the election should be conducted under the supervision of State Election Commission.

Addressing a press conference at the State Congress headquarters here, Dr Govind Singh said that State Cooperatives Minister Gopal Bhargava is uninhibitedly resorting to violation of the model code of conduct. Transfer of employees in the cooperative institutions are still being carried out and the nominated presidents of district cooperative banks were using resources and vehicles of the banks for election campaigning, he charged.

He questioned the propriety of nominating 32 district cooperative banks’ presidents by the State Government when cooperative elections were due and demanded that they should be immediately dismissed to ensure free and fair cooperative polls.

While demanding that the elections be conducted under the supervision of State Election Commission, he said that the State Congress leaders would soon meet the Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to urge them not release the grant of Rs 2700 crore recommended by Vaidyanathan Committee for revival of cooperative sector in MP lest it was also used by the State Government for ‘election management’.